Had a blast recently talking with Heath Holland over at Cereal At Midnight about the new Hopalong Cassidy set from ClassicFlix — and B Westerns in general.
Click on the image and off you go!
Archive for the ‘George “Gabby” Hayes’ Category
Talking Hoppy On Cereal At Midnight.
Posted in ClassicFlix, George "Gabby" Hayes, Hopalong Cassidy, Howard Bretherton, Paramount, Podcasts, William Boyd on August 13, 2025| 10 Comments »
Blu-Ray Quasi-Review: Hopalong Cassidy – The Legacy Collection, Volume 1 (1935).
Posted in ClassicFlix, DVD/Blu-Ray Reviews, George "Gabby" Hayes, Hopalong Cassidy, Howard Bretherton, Paramount, William Boyd on July 26, 2025| 14 Comments »
I’m not comfortable reviewing things I had something to do with. But this set is just too nice to ignore.
CassicFlix has launched their Hopalong Cassidy Blu-Ray series with the first three Cassidy pictures — Hop-Along Cassidy, The Eagle’s Brood and Bar 20 Rides Again (all 1935, all directed by Howard Bretherton and shot by Archie Stout). They’re fully restored and look like a million bucks. All come from 35mm, though two 16mm prints of The Eagle’s Brood were recruited to supplement the picture’s incomplete 35mm material — with terrific results.
Of course, the films themselves are a real notch above the typical B Western in every possible way.
Extras include two commentaries (one from yours truly), a trailer for The Eagle’s Brood and a really lovely “mini-documentary,” William Boyd – Becoming Hopalong Cassidy. I worked on the script and was still blown away by the finished piece.
There are 66 Hoppy pictures, so let’s hope this first volume is followed by 21 more (if my math is right). Highly, highly recommended. Nah, come to think of it, make it “essential!”
Blu-Ray News #391: Hopalong Cassidy – The Legacy Collection, Volume 1 (1935).
Posted in ClassicFlix, DVD/Blu-Ray News, George "Gabby" Hayes, Hopalong Cassidy, Paramount, Paul Fix, William Boyd on May 22, 2025| 4 Comments »
Coming in July from ClassixFlix, Hopalong Cassidy – The Legacy Collection, Volume 1 presents the first three Hopalong Cassidy pictures from 1935 (Hop-Along Cassidy, The Eagle’s Brood and Bar 20 Rides Again), newly restored and packed with bonus features:
• Audio commentary by Ed Hulse on Hop-Along Cassidy
• Audio commentary by Toby Roan on Bar 20 Rides Again
• William Boyd – Becoming Hopalong Cassidy mini-documentary
• Hopalong In Hoppyland short showcasing opening day at William Boyd’s 80-acre theme park
• Bonus reels (no sound) – Stock footage, outtakes & behind the scenes footage from the Hopalong Cassidy Film Archive
• The Eagle’s Brood original theatrical trailer
• Image Gallery
This has been in the works for a while, and it’s gonna really be something. And remember, if we all buy this one, there will be more!
The Exhibitor, 1950.
Posted in 1950, Charles Starrett, Gene Autry, George "Gabby" Hayes, Hopalong Cassidy, Randolph Scott, Roy Rogers, The Durango Kid, Tim Holt, William Boyd on February 17, 2023| 3 Comments »
We looked at Exhibitor magazine’s top cowboy stars for 1951 a while back. Here’s the 1950 list.
By the way, this was the year that Gabby Hayes left theaters with the Randolph Scott picture The Caribou Trail.
The Exhibitor, 1951.
Posted in 1951, Gene Autry, George "Gabby" Hayes, Rex Allen, Roy Rogers, Tim Holt, William Boyd on January 12, 2023| 24 Comments »
Merry Christmas!
Posted in George "Gabby" Hayes on December 25, 2022| 19 Comments »
Here’s a spread from the book Gabby Hayes — Tall Tales For Little Folks from 1954, with Gabby as Santa Claus.
Here’s wishing all you young whipper snappers the merriest of Christmases — and a Happy Hanukkah (it’s got a couple days left).
Been Waiting For Something To Shake Loose On These!
Posted in ClassicFlix, DVD/Blu-Ray News, George "Gabby" Hayes, George Archainbaud, Hopalong Cassidy, Lesley Selander, Paramount, United Artists, William Boyd on December 13, 2022| 9 Comments »
From the ClassicFlix newsletter: “We have several major projects underway, the largest at the moment is restoration of all 66 Hopalong Cassidy feature films… The first three films in the series are Hop-A-long Cassidy, The Eagle’s Brood and Bar 20 Rides Again (all 1935).”
This is wonderful news. I can’t wait. More news to follow.
DVD Review: The Roy Rogers Happy Trails Collection.
Posted in 1950, 1951, Dale Evans, DVD/Blu-Ray Reviews, George "Gabby" Hayes, Joe Kane, Mill Creek Entertainment, Penny Edwards, Republic Pictures, Sons Of The Pioneers, William Witney on March 14, 2019| 5 Comments »
Mill Creek’s new four-disc set, The Roy Rogers Happy Trails Collection, gathers up 20 Rogers pictures spanning his entire career, and presents most of them in the same unfortunate condition we’ve seen before. However, the set does have its advantages.
Here are the Rogers movies you get:
Young Bill Hickok (1940)
Sons Of The Pioneers (1941)
Cowboy And The Senorita (1944)
Sunset In El Dorado (1945)
Don’t Fence Me In (1945)
Man From Oklahoma (1945)
Along the Navajo Trail (1945)
Rainbow Over Texas (1946)
Down Dakota Way (1949)
The Golden Stallion (1949)
Susanna Pass (1949)
North Of The Great Divide (1950)
Trigger, Jr. (1950)
Trail Of Robin Hood (1950)
Bells Of Coronado (1950)
Twilight In The Sierras (1950)
Spoilers Of The Plains (1951)
South Of Caliente (1951)
In Old Amarillo (1951)
Pals Of The Golden West (1951)
Many of these are from the later period, when William Witney was packing these things with action — and shooting some in Trucolor. They also had longer running times, which is where we run into trouble. Trail Of Robin Hood (1950), for instance, runs 67 minutes. In this set, it runs just 63 minutes and that includes the Happy Trails Theatre introduction. So it’s fair to say that up to 10 minutes of the film is gone. This pattern continues throughout, with the damage depending on how long or short each movie was originally. Young Bill Hickok runs under an hour, so it might not have too much missing. Cowboy And The Senorita (1944), Roy and Dale’s first film together is the odd man out. It does not have an introduction, and it runs its full 77 minutes. Looks pretty good, too.
There are a few supplemental videos, some of them from the Roy Rogers Museum, which are nice to have — especially since the museum is no more, and it’s about as close to a tour as we’re gonna get anymore.
Some of these films are available elsewhere uncut. (Trigger, Jr. from Kino Lorber is incredible.) Wouldn’t it be great to have them complete with the introductions included as an extra, the way the Gene Autry pictures are done? I’m dying for a full-length Spoilers Of The Plains.
Character Actor Of The Day: George “Gabby” Hayes.
Posted in 1950, Charactor Actor Of The Day, Gene Autry, George "Gabby" Hayes, Joe Kane, John Payne, John Wayne, Paramount, Randolph Scott, Raoul Walsh, Republic Pictures, Roy Rogers on November 19, 2018| 10 Comments »
Since wrapping up a commentary for El Paso (1949), the Pine-Thomas Western starring John Payne, Gail Russell and Sterling Hayden, I’ve been thinking about Gabby Hayes.
George Francis “Gabby” Hayes was born in his father’s hotel, the Hayes Hotel, in Stannards, New York. He played semiprofessional baseball in high school — and ran away from home at 17. He toured with a stock company, joined a circus, and became a successful vaudevillian.
Hayes married Olive E. Ireland in 1914, and she joined him in vaudeville. Hayes was so successful that by 1928, at just 43, he retired to Long Island. But he lost everything in the 1929 stock-market crash, and Olive persuaded George to try his luck in the movies. They moved to Los Angeles.
In his early days in Hollywood, Hayes played all kinds of roles — sometimes two parts in a single film. He did well in Westerns, though he didn’t know how to ride a horse until he was in his 40s and had to learn for a movie. In fact, he didn’t care much for Westerns.
From 1935 to 39, Hayes played Windy Halliday, the sidekick to Hopalong Cassidy (played by William Boyd). In 1939, Hayes left Paramount in a salary dispute and moved over to Republic. Paramount owned the name Windy Halliday, so he became Gabby.
As Gabby Whitaker, he appeared in more than 40 pictures between 1939 and 1946, usually with Roy Rogers, Gene Autry or Wild Bill Elliott — and often working with director Joseph Kane.
Hayes, Wayne and Rogers would all appear in Raoul Walsh’s The Dark Command (1940). Its dream cast also includes Claire Trevor, Walter Pigeon, Marjorie Main and Joe Sawyer. Its success would spur Yates to put more money into their John Wayne movies, and it hints at the bigger pictures Republic would do heading into the 50s. It’s a good one.
George “Gabby” Hayes’ last feature was The Cariboo Trail (1950) with Randolph Scott. He then headed to TV and hosted The Gabby Hayes Show from 1950 to 1954 on NBC and on ABC in 1956. When the series ended, Hayes retired from show business for a second time. He passed away in February 1969.
50s Westerns DVD/Blu-Ray News #261: El Paso (1949).
Posted in Denver Pyle, DVD/Blu-Ray News, George "Gabby" Hayes, John Payne, Kino Lorber, Paramount, Sterling Hayden on April 20, 2018| 115 Comments »
Directed by Lewis R. Foster
Starring John Payne, Gail Russell, Sterling Hayden, George ‘Gabby’ Hayes, Dick Foran, Henry Hull, Mary Beth Hughes, H.B. Warner, Denver Pyle
Kino Lorber has announced their upcoming DVD and Blu-Ray release of the 1949 John Payne picture El Paso. Directed by Lewis R. Foster, and co-starring Gail Russell and Sterling Hayden, it was shot in Cinecolor. It’s a post-Civil War story, with a lawyer (Payne) coming to El Paso, Texas, and staying to clean it up.
El Paso‘s getting the glorious 4K treatment they’ve been giving the Republics. And they’re dragging out some guy to do another commentary. Watch for it this summer.
50 Westerns From The 50s.